Via Rail apology a 'slap in the face' says traveller

After a disastrous Christmas travel period, which included cancelled and delayed trips, Via Rail has issued an apology to travellers.

Chaos ensued on the Windsor-Montreal corridor Dec. 23 when a tree fell on an active train during a snowstorm and another train derailed elsewhere on the line.

In a statement Tuesday, Martin R Landry, President and Chief Executive Officer at Via Rail Canada said, "We appreciate that passengers were looking forward to holiday celebrations and family get-togethers, and we regret that for many, those plans were disrupted. We didn’t meet your expectations and for that we apologize."

Daina Woods was one of those passengers. On Dec. 23, she departed Toronto with her cat to spend Christmas with her family in Ottawa.

She ended up spending the next 22 hours stuck on a Via Rail train.

"So I got back to Fallowfield at 3:45 p.m. on Saturday the 24th and left (Toronto) at 5:45 p.m. on Friday the 23rd," Woods told CTV News.

"We stopped in Coburg, and we were stopped there for hours, and we still hadn't had any communication."

The 33-year-old says she often takes the four-hour trip on the train back to Barrhaven from Toronto, but with her cat making the trip with her, she became trapped on the train as a whiteout snowstorm raged on the other side of the window.

"There wasn't much food either, and then the toilets stopped working, so that was kind of a mess," said Woods.

"It could have gone terribly wrong in my situation, especially with my animal. Or even if I needed medication or something."

As compensation, Via Rail says it will be issuing full refunds and travel credits to passengers. The passenger rail company also says it will be reviewing its performance over the chaotic four-day period that followed the initial disruption.

"The refund was to be expected and then the credit is just a bit of a slap in the face," said Woods.

The statement from VIA went on to say, "We know we should have been more forthcoming in sharing information about trains that were delayed and in communicating updates. We also know we should have adopted a different approach in supporting passengers on trains that were delayed for lengthy periods."

Woods says she has no intention of getting back on a train anytime soon.

"I'm going to be looking into flights in the future for sure."